Look Out – Cybercriminals Are Getting Smarter, Says Trend Micro

Cybercriminals are bombarding our PCs and mobile devices with more types of security threats than ever before, new research has found.

The first few months of 2015 saw hackers combine tried and trusted methods such as phishing and malware with newer types such as malvertising and zero-day exploits, according to Trend Micro’s Q1 2015 Security Roundup.

And it seems that almost all types of verticals are now coming under threat as hackers target new victims indiscriminately, including many in the healthcare industry.

Under attack

Mobile adware proved to be a particularly potent threat, with Trend Micro finding more than five million Android threats to date — nearing the predicted total of eight million by the close of 2015. In fact, top malicious and high-risk apps blocked by Trend Micro were adware related, reflecting this increase.

“Even though we are early in the year, it is clear 2015 is shaping up to be noteworthy in terms of volume, ingenuity and sophistication of attacks,” said Raimund Genes, CTO, Trend Micro.

“The rise in attacks against the healthcare industry, combined with the rise in malvertisements, reflects that technology users are being assailed from all angles. It is clear businesses and individuals alike need to be proactive in protecting against threats.”

Overall, the US remains the largest host and target for attacks in Q1, with the highest number of malicious URLs (29 percent), and the highest spam delivery (16 percent). Unsurprisingly, English was also the most common language for spam, with 85 percent, far ahead of other languages such as Chinese (1.86 percent), German (1.27 percent), Japanese (1.15 percent) and Russian (0.70 percent).

“The question we have to ask is, ‘are we doing enough to protect ourselves from security threats?’” he added. “While we need to constantly update our systems to protect against new attacks, the first quarter of 2015 clearly showed we need to also watch out for older threats, and how no industry or system should feel exempt.”

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